Author Topic: Help - my LO cries all the time when not sleeping or eating  (Read 11565 times)

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Offline brezinav

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Our 4 week old baby cries almost all the time when he's not sleeping or eating. He doesn't ever make contented baby noises, or smile, or light up when we hold him close or make silly faces at him. I've tried to put him on EASY and our routine was something like this:

7 am - diaper change, feed for 30 min
7.30 - start screaming
9.00 - finally settle down and fall asleep (he fights going to sleep so hard, even while he's yawning!)
10 - time to wake him for his next feeding
repeat


We gave up after 10 days and are letting him feed on demand now. At least sometimes I can catch a catnap that way on the feeds where he falls straight to sleep. Sometimes he's ravenous and feeds every 2 hours for 3 feeds, then other times he seems to be naturally on a 3 hour schedule. And then out of the blue he'll pull a 4 hour nap during the day.
 
I can't tell the difference between any of his cries: hunger, overstimulation, discomfort or boredom. He makes hunger cues almost all the time when he's awake - even after eating 4+ oz of breast milk (we rented a scale because we were worried he was truly hungry). He'd gained over a pound at his 3 week dr. visit so I know he's getting plenty of milk. I've changed to a bland diet and don't eat any of the classic offenders. Sometimes I can tell that he has gas or an upset tummy and that's what's bothering him, but mostly it seems he's just plain unhappy.

Any suggestions??

PS - I'm crazy jealous of the moms posting with concerns about their lo's sleeping too much. Enjoy it ladies!!

Offline Idahomom

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Re: Help - my LO cries all the time when not sleeping or eating
« Reply #1 on: May 29, 2006, 02:40:04 am »
OHHHH yes.....I remember those days.  You are describing DS at that very same age.  I literally thought I was being punished by the universe.  Please please remember it will not last forever.  DS is "normal" now and a complete joy.  It was around 3-4 weeks that I started telling the ped there was something wrong - he was crying way more than normal.  She said he was "communicating" with me. ::) ::) ::)  I did some research on the internet and in baby books from the library and discovered he may have a dairy allergy through my breast milk.  I cut out all dairy and things got a little better, but I kept accidentally eating things with yogurt powder or some outragous thing in them.  The ped recommended a hypoallergenic formula (Enfamil Nutramigen) and we put him on it at 3 mo.  It was like night and day.  His face cleared up - I thought it was infant acne, but it was a rash from dairy sensitivity. He suddeny turned into a happy baby.  Nutramigen is very expensive and at about 5 mo we put him on soy formula, still did great.  We also gave him gas drops (Mylicon or Little tummies).  Two nurses told me these are completely safe to give with every feeding as they do not obsorb into the body.
I'm sorry to say DS is still not a great napper.  Usually 30 min at a time, 2 naps a day now.  But......He sleeps all night from 7-7 and has since about 4 mo.  I'll take all night over naps any day.
Good luck, email me if you need to talk, I have been there.

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Offline ¤ Efka ¤

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Re: Help - my LO cries all the time when not sleeping or eating
« Reply #2 on: May 29, 2006, 14:16:08 pm »
I am sorry you are having hard time.It was like  this for us too.He was crying, or eating and sometimes sleeping, but for now ,6 weeks he is better now and can even lye there and just look around. But to this time we have not got on real EASY yet. Trying all the time but not yet. Hang in there
~Efka~


Offline Arisandmarion

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Re: Help - my LO cries all the time when not sleeping or eating
« Reply #3 on: May 29, 2006, 14:26:42 pm »
My LO did the same thing at about 1 month - they told me it was colic and she would outgrow it but she was obviously in pain (although some actually say colic does not hurt) and it took hours to put her to sleep at times, finally I tried those gas drops (in Canada and the US they call it OVAL) and I would give her some after every feeding, she ended up eating more but in a matter of 1-2 days it stopped. She had to use more than the recommended amount (after every feeding) but after about three weeks she needed it less and less until not at all. (It is not absorbed by the body anyways)
Good luck!

Offline First Time Mom

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Re: Help - my LO cries all the time when not sleeping or eating
« Reply #4 on: May 29, 2006, 14:44:34 pm »
I would recommend feeding on demand for the first while to get your milk flow well established as well as newborns are often hungry on 2 hour (as you've noticed). I would try not to go past 3 hour feeds- so if he's sleeping too long in the day wake him at the 3 hour mark, it may help him to sleep better at night if he doesn't oversleep a nap.

My dd did NOTHING but cry during her first 5 weeks of life, she seemed in pain, had gas and wouldn't burb. She ended up having a milk protein alergy so I had to eliminate all milk products out of my diet. As well, we used the Oval drops the pp mentioned, they worked wonders. Many mothers use Gripe water to help as a natural alternative to Oval drops (though Gripe water did nothing for my dd).

Keep the stimulation low, eliminate mobiles above the crib, music, etc. Your lo many find all this too stimulating for now, I had to drape a dark cloth over the hood of my dd's bassinet to help her fall asleep and cry less. Some los find the outside world too stimulating at first! 2 hours awake time is probably too much wake time for you lo and he is overtired/stimulated. Sometimes they yawn as they are tired but are unable to settle and fall asleep when they hit the overtired state.

Hang in there, it will get better (and then you will so miss the newborn stage- tears and all!)
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Offline becky1969

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Re: Help - my LO cries all the time when not sleeping or eating
« Reply #5 on: May 29, 2006, 19:05:31 pm »
Could someone explain how Oval drops differ from Mylicon? I'm not sure I've seen these before!

Owen, 12/28/05 7 lb 2 oz

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Offline linfran

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Re: Help - my LO cries all the time when not sleeping or eating
« Reply #6 on: May 29, 2006, 20:02:12 pm »
I went through that with my lo....

I found going for a good long walk helped when things got bad  - the movement of the pushchair and the fresh air made him nod off, and if it didn't, the screaming didn't sound half as bad out of doors!

Hard to believe, it does pass and my lo now goes as far as to giggle in his sleep......very weird!

Offline Arisandmarion

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Re: Help - my LO cries all the time when not sleeping or eating
« Reply #7 on: May 29, 2006, 22:34:24 pm »
The active ingredient in both OVAL and Mylicon is Simethicone - but I cannot tell the difference in the other ingredients - they should both be very similar. Gripe water requires a lot more to be effective and it is hard to get a screaming baby to swallow a few ml - but OVAL and Mylicon require only .25-.5ml oer use (in fact we used even less - just a drop would do the trick each time and we would follow the drop with a pacifier or bottle to get her to swallow it) Also we found gripe water only helped her when she had a big burp - but each one is different - I hope you find something that works for your LO

Offline Erin M

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Re: Help - my LO cries all the time when not sleeping or eating
« Reply #8 on: May 31, 2006, 14:57:12 pm »
On the colic, reflux, and crying board there's a checklist for colic that you might want to check out.  Also you can look at the food allergy board for some info on food allergies if you think that might be it.  Otherwise, take heart at the fact that he'll grow out of it sooner or later.  My DD was quite the cryer early on and fought naps like it was her mission in life...and now hardly ever cries and has actually transformed to a decent napper as well.

Offline brezinav

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Re: Help - my LO cries all the time when not sleeping or eating
« Reply #9 on: July 05, 2006, 00:36:39 am »
Just an update after a month. In desperation I switched from breast milk to soy formula and it's been WONDERFUL! No more screaming, no more tummy pain, lots of smiles and very few cries. We're still not on our EASY consistently, but overall we're doing A LOT better!!

Offline Idahomom

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Re: Help - my LO cries all the time when not sleeping or eating
« Reply #10 on: July 05, 2006, 02:08:39 am »
So good to hear!! Keep working on easy, we didn't discover bw until ds was 3.5 mo, put him on it immediately, took a couple weeks but worth the work.  Enjoy your happy baby!!

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Offline linfran

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Re: Help - my LO cries all the time when not sleeping or eating
« Reply #11 on: July 05, 2006, 09:57:41 am »
YAY!!!! :D :D

Offline Erin M

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Re: Help - my LO cries all the time when not sleeping or eating
« Reply #12 on: July 06, 2006, 02:50:48 am »
That's so great to hear!  Glad you found what worked for you.  :) :)